All right. Okay. Thank you. Sure. Thank you, sir. All right.
number five mi 2025 is 0 0 6 8 6 7 25 30 north 11th street zenjin is the attorney
let me come back in short sure
good evening good afternoon council we've uh seen you several times today uh yes you've been sworn
just for the record state your name zen jen z-h-e-n-j-i-n um council um could you identify
your client the relationship to the property yes uh my client is the my client is uh olympia
holdings lc the property owner mr shagai bader should be here on behalf of the corporation
okay and i i think i see the rco seem to have a split vote does that sound right yeah they
did not take a position uh partly because they kind of had a divided vote with regard to the
neighbors that appeared at the meeting okay our vice chair has just a few questions sir good
evening have you submitted your documents and exhibits five days in advance of this hearing
yes and do you waive the reading now the refusal and stipulate to its accuracy
i do all right thank you share your screen and proceed with the case
thank you i'm going to share with the board what was previously submitted
can the board see my uh exhibit yes sir thank you so good again good afternoon this is an
application for a new construction at 2530 north 11th street uh my client is uh making
My client is making an application in this RM1 district for three family dwelling.
an application in this rm1 district for three
Thank you.
The three family request was refused.
The examiner did not specifically indicate the reason.
However, based on the code, I believe it is based on the lot size being about 180 square foot short of a by right three family dwelling.
uh mr jen i just only know i did look up so i yeah i was confused about that too and the code
section they cited to on the refusal was for the north central philadelphia overlay district which
requires 425 square feet of lot area um they didn't specify how much lot area is at this
property but presumably it's only enough for two units so that just to clarify that is correct yes
and based on that we we are short on the overall lot square footage again the rco took no position
on this they we did present before them uh the application what we're looking for again this is a
heavily residential multi-family area this will be a new construction filling out a space between
some existing buildings that are currently constructed uh the main reason that there was
a divide between the community members uh there's a faction of the community members that does not
want to see new developments coming into the neighborhood uh they were adamantly opposed to
the idea of any kind of construction uh we we understand that however uh we also understand that
even if we were to do a by right project uh some form of construction will take place here
what we did assure the community at the meeting is that my client uh made it would make himself
available to the community to the neighbors any issues with construction he would be available
there to make sure that it is addressed that being said uh this lot is uh about a thousand
a little over a thousand square feet uh it is again in on a block with a few new constructions
of similar type size and design uh three stories in height and approximately 600 to 700 square
foot per level once constructed with a basement level as well the elevation plan here shows
the way the basement is laid out again it's predominantly underground with about two feet
six above grade there is a proposed roof deck on the third floor which is accessible only by
the third floor unit again this is a private unit three deck I'm going to go ahead and go to the
floor plans so the basic layout here the basement would be a finished basement with hvac washer dryer
units utilities and an open area for use by the tenant or for whatever purpose they wish we do
understand that the board generally would not want basement living so no bedrooms or anything
of that nature we addressed that with the architect who originally wanted to put bedrooms in the
basement the first floor would be unit one the unit itself has a side exit to the rear yard
along with a front entrance they would enter into the living room it'll be a kitchen area
and then it's one full bedroom with its own contained bathroom and this is actually supposed
to be a powder room but it is designed in the layout as a full bathroom so that is unit one
unit two it's a second floor which is the same approximate size as unit one with the bedroom in
the front bedroom in the back it is accessed through the same entrance in the front up the
stairs and then would enter from the stairs itself on the side at a landing into the living room and
kitchen area and it has two bedrooms total in that unit the upper floor unit which also has access to
the uh roof deck is designed much like the second floor unit because of a little bit of more space
with the stairs ending on the third floor uh it has a larger living and kitchen area
um it has its own washer and dryer i'm not sure why the hvac system is also here i believe it's
due to the height of the building uh some kind of fan unit has to be upstairs to make sure the air
gets drawn at least that's how it was explained to me when i asked about why is there an hvac
unit up on the third floor my client might be able to clarify on that as well again it's a
unit up on the third floor my client might be able to clarify on that as well
two-bedroom design one of the things that we understand and that it's always a concern with
any of these multi-family units is temporary storage of trash each unit contains except for
first floor obviously but the second and third floor and the first floor actually all contain
the trash closet which will be built in near the kitchen for easy storage of trash until time for
taking it out for the trash pickup so again the reason my client thought to have three units
rather than just two is due to again the size of the unit upstairs would be very large and
And they understand as well that four bedrooms would not really work generally for rentals
because of limitations on the number of unrelated people, or in the case of the area, which
is the main reason why they want to do three units is that they have found over the past
from renting larger units that there simply isn't that many applicants that want units
of that size predominantly they find that the people that are looking to rent are looking for
smaller one to two bedroom units for the most part and that is primarily one of the reasons
based on the size of the lot the size of the building that would be constructed
my client is seeking a three unit rather than two so that is essentially the project
I believe my client is here to verify my testimony and I'm happy to try to answer
any questions from the board. What's your client's name? Mr. Bader, Shagai Bader.
Okay, Mr. Bader. They should be coming back in shortly. Yeah, they'll be coming back in shortly.
Hello? Sir, could you please state your name and spell for the stenographer?
Yeah, my name is Chagai Bader, C-H-A-G-A-I, my last name Bader, B-A-B-E-R.
Do you swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth?
Yes, I am.
Please proceed, counsel.
Thank you.
Mr. Bader, did you hear my testimony and see my presentation before the ZBA today?
Can you verify what I've represented is true and correct and adopted as your own testimony?
as a quick follow-up i made a representation about the divide of the people at the meeting
you were present with me at the meeting can you also verify what i stated about
the meeting uh challenges that were given the concerns that were given is that a correct
representation yes thank you questions from the board yes do you have any images of what the block
looks like now and i know there was a lot of vacancies but you said um and it was like a
mixture most of the uh mostly of two two okay all right so the three yeah three you the three uh
stories have already started to be yes there are quite a few started on the block okay thank you
thank you and you go back to the plans very quick sure
is there a particular floor you uh you want no i just wanted i just wanted to uh take a look
and i i think somebody else had a question i just want to see what's going on in the basement
yeah there's a hot water uh unit with uh one of the hvac uh uh there's a third floor hvac
closet as well is that because of the distance they need to have some kind of fan up there to
make sure that the air is drawn up is that you have one main yeah main units uh that splits up
into the central air no it's a duct system is the reason but the dock system okay so that it needs
another air unit above to make sure the flow of the duct has enough flow correct those are usually
while hung on the rear of the building but yeah um where are the picometers planning to be
where do you plan to put the picometers normally it's outside
so it'll be similar to what we saw on the pictures next door they they had it on the front the same
idea yes and then what is the plan for trash i guess everybody's going to use their interior
trash room well first floor obviously has its own exit into the rear yard as well
um and everybody will have a trash room okay all the questions uh real quick are there any other
and everybody will have a trash room.
uh units with roof decks on the block the the existing new three stories next door uh shagai
do they also have roof decks yes i believe we're not 100 sure on that though is that roof deck
here yes yeah there is a roof deck proposed for the third floor only um that is actually on the
site plan i can go to that uh for the board to look at it it's uh right here right there yeah
right here no this is because it's set back on on the uh i got you yeah so what's the point
what's the back from the vent are you not going to set back and block access for the tenants to
the roof vent in the front i mean at the rear sure guy the question is the vent at the rear that's
not that's still part of the roof deck correct yeah but we close we do like a close that people
don't go to it's covered it's a covered vent you are going to block it off yes there's going to be
a cover on it to make sure that there are no problems with that thing yes
okay so you have a you have a two you have two full baths in a one bedroom unit
yes the guy on the first floor there's two full baths can you speak to that
was that an issue on the on the architect side or is that something that you guys wanted
no it's supposed to be like a powder room and you know okay so he drew it as a full bathroom
yeah but you know it's not a big problem are you opposed to know a proviso for no household living
in the basement you're okay with that uh no household living in the basement i think so yes
yeah we're not opposed to it okay
um also the height on the basement it's like a sink and the other the other new construction
are they three units or two units do you know uh i believe on the atlas the immediate next
door one is a two unit uh based on the records i'm not so sure about the other one
do you want to talk about those yeah all right we'll do it we'll bring it back to the next
year so our attorney hillary emerson i'm not at this time mr chair questions or comments
from the virtual audience
planning commission
Amy Boyd with the Planning Commission.
The comprehensive plan recommends a change in zoning at this location from the existing
RM1 residential multifamily to RSA5 residential single family.
The appellant could have earned an additional unit through the mixed income housing bonus
by providing low-income unit or by contributing to the Housing Trust Fund.
The Planning Commission recommends that the Board deny their requested variance for the third dwelling unit.
Okay, thank you.
Zen, a couple issues raised.
We just want to figure it out, talk about it.
So we'll vote next Wednesday at 2 o'clock.
Okay, thank you.
Okay, and thank you very much.
Thank you.
Have a good one.
Is there anyone in the audience whose case has not been called from the 3.30 list?
i do not see any hands mr chair thanks everyone we we uh he had us at 6 30 and at six o'clock
we exceeded expectations
see you guys
you later